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Emergency Services and Response

First responders—including police, paramedics, firefighters, and public health agencies—must react to all manner of emergencies, from terrorism to natural disasters. RAND research supports private-sector and government agencies at the federal, state, and local levels that are charged with responding to, mitigating the effects of, and recovering from natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other emergencies.

Testimony

Lessons from Past Response Operations Can Help Strengthen National Preparedness

For the nation to be prepared for large-scale events, the national preparedness system needs to effectively support the initially local responders who will always be the first on the scene.

Jun 18, 2014
Report

How Do We Know What Information Sharing Is Really Worth? Exploring Methodologies to Measure the Value of Information Sharing and Fusion Efforts

This report discusses the challenges of evaluating information-sharing efforts that seek to achieve multiple goals simultaneously; reviews past evaluations of information-sharing programs; and lays out a path to improving the evaluation of such efforts.

Jun 18, 2014
Commentary

Fighting Fires From Above

A newly deployed airborne firefighting resource is helping the United States Forest Service (USFS) battle wildfires, while at the same time providing valuable lessons on the utility and cost effectiveness of water-dropping scooper aircraft.

May 15, 2014
Commentary

Death Is Never Far When You Are at Sea

The U.S. marine safety record is impressive, arguably the best in the world. Yet, as the heartbreaking example of the Sewol demonstrates, the United States must never become complacent.

May 12, 2014
Report

Wireless Emergency Alerts: Mobile Penetration Strategy

This report characterizes the factors that affect wireless emergency alert (WEA) coverage, identifies barriers to public access to WEA alerts, and suggests options for increasing mobile penetration (adoption) of WEA nationwide.

Feb 12, 2014
Commentary

Investing in Firefighting

While the U.S. Forest Service has not completely agreed with RAND's proposal to transition to a fleet dominated by water-dropping scooper aircraft for fighting fires, they have leased one CL-415 scooper aircraft. It might be more cost-effective for the USFS to simply purchase it outright.

Dec 30, 2013
Commentary

The Desirability of 'Free' C-27s for the U.S. Forest Service

Although we believe that a scooper-centric firefighting aircraft portfolio for initial attack would still be preferred, Air Force-provided 1,850-gallon C-27Js could be a cost-effective component of the retardant-bearing portion of the Forest Service's airborne firefighting arsenal, write Edward G. Keating and Daniel M. Norton.

Sep 6, 2013
Testimony

What Should We Learn from Boston?

We cannot assume, based on Boston's response to the marathon bombings, that other U.S. cities are as prepared. Emergency managers and public safety agencies remain focused on disaster preparedness, but some hospitals have lapsed into thinking that it is a costly distraction from daily business.

Jul 10, 2013
Commentary

Firefighting Aircraft: Is Bigger Better?

An aircraft's capacity and speed largely determine the rate at which water or retardant can be applied to a fire. Very large air tankers (VLATs) certainly have the capacity to apply large amounts of fluids to a fire, but because of the distances travelled they may not be able to get a second load very quickly.

May 20, 2013
Journal Article

Hervormingenvan Brandweer - En Reddingsdiensten in Europa: (Lighting the Touch Paper of Reform? Case Studies in Fire and Rescue Service Reform in Europe)

In the age of austerity, Fire and Rescue Services (FRS) provision is now the focus of policymakers' efficiency drives.

Apr 1, 2013
Commentary

Tuberculosis Outbreak in LA Reminds Us of Importance of 'Bread and Butter' Public Health Capabilities

In this fiscally uncertain climate, we should continue to leverage the dual-use benefit of bioterrorism investments by building and maintaining those routine (but essential) public health capabilities that can also be used in response to a variety of public health emergencies.

Mar 12, 2013
Journal Article

Nongovernmental Resources to Support Disaster Preparedness, Response, and Recovery

The development of an assets framework which identifies relevant nongovernmental resources for disaster preparedness and response and assesses their availability at state and local levels found that the capacity of each sector to capture data needs strengthening.

Jan 1, 2013
Journal Article

Results of Medical Countermeasure Drills Among 72 Cities Readiness Initiative Metropolitan Statistical Areas, 2008-2009

The report describes the results of the first year of pilot data for medical countermeasure drills conducted by 72 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs).

Dec 1, 2012
Report

Bridging the Gap: Prototype Tools to Support Local Disaster Preparedness Planning and Collaboration

RAND researchers developed an initial prototype tool to help determine capabilities and resources a locality will likely require during a disaster. The report also describes two social networking tools for local coordination of disaster preparedness.

Oct 12, 2012
Report

U.S. Forest Service Should Consider a Different Mix of Aircraft to Fight Wildfires

The U.S. Forest Service should upgrade its large airborne firefighting fleet to include more amphibious scooper aircraft, with air tankers and helicopters in a supporting role during the initial attack of fires before they become large.

Jul 30, 2012
Research Brief

Identifying a Cost-Effective Aviation Fleet for the U.S. Forest Service

This brief provides an overview of a RAND study to support the U.S. Forest Service in determining the composition of a fleet of airtankers, scoopers, and helicopters that would minimize the total social costs of wildfires.

Jul 30, 2012
News Release

U.S. Forest Service Should Consider a Different Mix of Aircraft to Fight Wildfires

The U.S. Forest Service should upgrade its large airborne firefighting fleet to include more amphibious scooper aircraft, with air tankers and helicopters in a supporting role during the initial attack of fires before they become large.

Jul 29, 2012
Report

Analysis of the Cities Readiness Initiative

Examines (1) the status of communities' capability to deliver medical countermeasures within 48 hours of a federal decision to deploy assets and (2) whether the Cities Readiness Initiative has improved communities' capability to meet that goal.

Mar 27, 2012
Journal Article

Medical Relief After Earthquakes: It's Time for a New Paradigm

This editorial examines the performance of urban search and rescue teams that responded to major earthquake disasters in Iran, Pakistan, Indonesia, Haiti, New Zealand, and Japan over the last decade.

Mar 1, 2012
Multimedia

Managing the Unexpected

Admiral Thad Allen, then a senior fellow at RAND, presented “Managing the Unexpected” on April 19, 2011, as part of RAND's Issues in Focus public outreach series. Retired Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard and National Incident Commander for the response to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Allen discussed his experiences leading the nation's high-profile response to two national emergencies—the oil spill and Hurricane Katrina.

Apr 19, 2011

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